NHL Would Reportedly Commit to 2018 Olympics if NHLPA Agrees to CBA Extension

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports Canada.

The NHL is reportedly dangling the Olympic cookie over the heads of its players in hopes of extending the collective bargaining agreement. In a pretty slick move, the type we've come to expect from Gary Bettman, the league is attempting to leverage the players' deep desire to go to the Olympics into a CBA extension through 2020.

According to reports out of the GM meetings in Toronto on Wednesday, in exchange for NHL permission and approval for players to attend the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the NHLPA would agree to extend the current CBA, which expires in 2022 but has an opt-out clause that both the owners and players can act on in 2020, if a proposal is submitted in September 2019. Essentially, labour peace for the Olympics is the deal the NHL has brought forth.

Donald Fehr confirms that he's started speaking with players about NHL's offer to go to the Olympics in exchange for extending CBA.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris)November 16, 2016

A major hold up in the NHL's commitment to the 2018 Games is due to financial reasons, like the IOC's decision to not pay the $10-plus million for players' insurance, transportation and accommodation costs—not to mention that participation in South Korea would force the NHL to shut down for weeks in the middle of the season. The International Ice Hockey Federation said this week that it would be willing to cover those costs, something the NHL hasn't paid for in each of the last five Olympics.

The league and its owners are trying to take advantage of the one major flaw NHL players have—their endless and unwavering love for hockey and desire to see the game grow. The players want to be in the Olympics, and the owners know that. The offer from the league includes several key factors that players will have to consider. Escrow, that disgusting word everyone got so sick of hearing leading into the last two lockouts, is at the forefront. Escrow is essentially a third-party bank account controlled by neither the players nor the NHL.

Depending on the amount of fluctuation in the hockey related revenue (HRR) from year-to-year, the players must pay a percentage of their salary to the escrow fund and only receive it back at season's end if projected revenue numbers are met. It essentially ensures a 50/50 revenue split between the owners and players. According to NHL Numbers, players lost an estimated 16 percent of their paycheques in 2015-16.

In order to participate in the 2018 Olympics, according to this proposal, the players will have to lock in that high escrow amount—which was the biggest sticking point with the current CBA negotiation—for a longer period of time. On the plus side, players would gain several more years of labour peace and job security along with the right to compete in the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

I polled a number of NHL players yesterday and all said they believe participating in the Winter Olympics is important…

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger)November 16, 2016

The NHLPA now has to make the next move in this heads up game of blackjack being played between the NHL's owners and its biggest asset, the players. The players know, that like them, the owners want to grow the game, especially in Asia, with its eyes squarely focused on the 2022 Games in China.

If the players' association feel that the league is bluffing and is fully planning on going to the Olympics either way, it would be financially foolish for the players to accept the deal and extend the CBA.

The owners are banking that the players' love for the game and desire to see it gain more global popularity will be the deciding factor in this latest round of CBA roulette.